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Medford sits in a rain shadow between the Cascade Range and Siskiyou Mountains called the Rogue Valley. As such, most of the rain associated with the Pacific Northwest and Oregon in particular skips Medford, making it drier and sunnier than the Willamette Valley. Medford's climate is considerably warmer, both in summer and winter, than its latitude would suggest, with a Mediterranean climate. Summers are akin to Eastern Oregon, and winters resemble the coast. Here, summer sees an average of 57 afternoons over 90 °F or 32.2 °C and eleven afternoons over 100 °F or 37.8 °C. In August 1981, the high temperature reached over 110 °F or 43.3 °C for four consecutive days, with two days reaching 114 °F or 45.6 °C. Freezing temperatures occur on 69 mornings during an average year, and in some years there may be a day or two where the high stays at or below freezing; the average window for freezing temperatures is October 23 through April 23. The city is located in USDA hardiness zone 8. Medford also experiences temperature inversions in the winter which during its lumber mill days produced fog so thick that visibility could be reduced to less than five feet. These inversions can last for weeks; some suggest this is because the metropolitan area has one of the lowest average wind speeds of all American metropolitan areas. The heavy fog returns nearly every winter with the inversions lowering air quality for several months without relief.
Medford residents do experience snowfall during the winter months; however, due to the weather shadow effect it only averages 3.6 inches or 0.09 metres and melts fairly quickly. In the past, the city has seen seasonal snowfall totals reach 31 inches or 0.79 metres in 1955–1956. That season was also the wettest "rain year" with a total of 33.41 inches ; this immediately followed the driest "rain year" since records started in 1911 from July 1954 to June 1955 when only 9.28 inches was recorded. By far the wettest month has been December 1964 with 12.72 inches ; no other month has had more than 10 inches or 254 millimetres. The wettest day on record has been December 2, 1962 with 3.30 inches.
The lowest recorded temperature in Medford was −10 °F on December 13, 1919, and the highest recorded temperature was 115 °F on July 20, 1946, and June 28, 2021. There is significantly more diurnal temperature variation in summer than in winter, with the difference between December high and low average temperatures being only 13.2 °F , but the difference between August high and low average temperatures is 33.9 °F.
The Census Bureau estimate for 2016 calculated an 8.9% growth in Medford since 2010 with 81,636 people in 29,751 households. Through 2015, the Census Bureau estimates that there were 7,427 veterans and 7.3% foreign-born persons. Among persons aged 25 or more, 86.4% had a high school degree or higher and 23.7% had a bachelor's degree or higher. Of people 16 or older, 61% of people held employment, and the median income was $41,931.